Objection!
You can use fishes for multiple species however it is not required. You can use fish for a collection of trout and bass
6 2 ReplyThere is nothing to object to. You just repeated the picture. It says "can", just like you did. Doesn't say "must".
You, at most, clarified or highlighted what was said. But you didn't object. You agreed.
8 0 ReplyNow do email!
2 0 Reply
Does any other plural work this way? Or is this just another stupid ass English variation?
4 0 ReplyPerson/People does. The word "peoples" can be used as multiple different groups of people.
For instance you can say to "the peoples of Europe" to refer to Germans, French, Italian, etc.
9 0 Replyinteresting. so it's like a plural or a plural. so I can say the monkeyses of the Amazon.
2 0 ReplyBut people is a non-countable word, like water. You don't have one people, two people.
When talking about peoples of [place] it's a countable word.
Fish is countable.
1 0 Reply
6 0 ReplyHmmm. I'm just going to keep using this to refer to all my I'll gotten gains.
1 0 Reply
Uncountable nouns (i.e.,things you usually measure by volume or weight) behave this way as well.
e.g., salt/salts to mean any measure of salt vs different types of salts. Beer/beers to mean any amount of liquid beer vs different beer styles or products.
3 0 Reply
If there's more than 1 species of sheep, can I say sheeps?
2 0 ReplySheepses
6 0 ReplyChill, Gollum
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Of course anyone who hears this is likely to just think you're an idiot.
2 0 ReplyI get eaten by the worms... and weird fishes...
1 0 ReplyIt's a good thing that English isn't actually defined by any one person or entity, and simply by its usage. That means this is bullshit.
2 2 ReplyAs you say in your first sentence, language is by consensus. And, the long-standing consensus among ichthyologists is to use exactly this terminology, and you'll find it consistently across the scientific literature for generations now.
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I don't care if the person is technically correct or not, any time I hear 'fishes' I cringe.
1 9 Reply"He fishes in the lake" is a perfectly normal sentence.
4 0 ReplyA bit disingenuous since it's from an obviously different context.
1 0 Reply